Three Times Three
by Rose Atlee
Summary: She thought it was over. She even considered that it was her overactive teenage imagination. But now he's back. What does he want, and why wait until now to return? Rated M for future adult themes. JarethSarah. PLEASE REVIEW!


It has been three years, three months, and three days since Sarah had her first experience with Jareth. Since she defeated him, the Goblin king has been more miserable than ever, and unable to stop thinking of his beloved Sarah. Sarah has moved on with her life, has gone off to college, and has convinced herself that what happened to her was just a bad dream.

When Jareth comes up with a plan to bring Sarah back to the Underground, she thinks she's gone crazy - until she realizes that it is no dream, and the seed of desire that was planted three years ago has begun to bloom inside of her. Will Sarah give in to Jareth, or will she turn away from him again? Read on!

Chapter 1

Sarah awoke with a start. She could still feel his presence, his scent lingered all around her. His words echoed in her head, 'Soon, my love. Soon.' Sarah shook her head, trying to clear the remnants of the dream. It had been so long since she'd dreamt of the Underground. About a year after she battled Jareth on his own terms, she stopped believing it had been real, or that any of her goblin friends had been more than figments of her imagination. It could have been the weekly trips to the psychiatrist at her step-mother's demand, or it could have just been that she finally grew up.

Either way, it didn't answer the question about why she was suddenly dreaming about him again. It didn't make sense. He hadn't seemed as real as before, but then, perhaps it was because it had been so long. Jareth. She had instantly remembered his name, and thinking it now made her shiver with anticipation. Peeking at the small calendar on the night stand, she noticed the irony - three years, three months and three days since her 'visit' to the Underground. A strange sensation nestled itself in her core. Three was a powerful number to any who believed in magic. Three threes was even more so. Her entire being felt as though she were lost in a fog.

"Soon." She murmured, not aware she had said it. Her eyes went to the alarm clock. "Oh no!" She jumped out of her bed and threw on some clothes. There was no time for a shower. She usually set the alarm for a good hour and a half before her first class of the day, giving herself ample time to wake up in the morning. During the last week, it had been particularly hard for her to get up with the alarm, but this was the first time she'd missed it entirely. "How did I sleep through that buzzing?" she wondered aloud as she grabbed her backpack and bolted for the door. Her first class was starting in less than ten minutes. She'd have to run to make it on time.

Bolting down the paths from the dorms to Weiser Hall, she nearly collided with several people who were also hurrying to their class. She ran up the steps and through the doors, praying that she wasn't too late. This was one of her favorite classes - Medieval and Renaissance Literature. She jogged to the classroom door, skidding to a halt just inside. The door clicked shut loudly behind her, making all of the people in the room look up. Sarah wasn't paying attention to them.

'It can't be!' her mind screamed at her as she stared at the figure sitting at the desk. She blinked hard, but the image before her did not fade.

"You must be Miss Williams." The man who couldn't possibly be speaking to her said. He was lounging back in the professor's chair, one foot resting on the desk, the other on the floor. Those mismatched eyes seemed to bore into her.

She didn't want to arouse any suspicion, so she replied, "Yes. How did you know?"

He smirked, a strange gleam in his eyes told her that he was amused by her disorientation. "We've already taken role call." He continued on with the charade. "Why don't you take your seat? I've already instructed your classmates on the assignment for today. One of them can explain it to you."

Sarah obeyed, feeling almost as if her body was moving without her telling it to. She took an open seat four rows up and allowed herself to really look at him when she thought he'd gone back to whatever he was doing, almost expecting to see him wearing the tights and leather vests and jackets that he wore in the Underground. What she didn't expect, was to find that he looked very stylish and handsome in an offbeat sort of way. His hair was cut in long shaggy layers varying from eye-length at the front to almost touching his shoulders in the back, but somehow, he made it look immensely more attractive than anyone she'd seen wearing that style. His jacket was very much like one a professor would wear, plaid, but the weave was subtle so that you almost couldn't tell it was plaid if you weren't looking hard enough.

Beneath the jacket was a fitted white t-shirt, which was tucked neatly into tight-fitting black jeans. From her seat, she could see all of him, and her eyes flicked to the slight bulge of the denim, then she quickly moved her gaze down his long legs, her tongue darting out to moisten her suddenly dry lips. To add to his bad-boy substitute teacher image, he wore black combat boots. When she glanced back up to his face, she was shocked to find him watching her, his gaze intent. Sarah quickly looked down at her book, but not before she saw that smirk again, feeling her cheeks turning crimson.

She had to fight all through the class period to not look at him. Apparently, only one other person in the class seemed to be paying any attention to him, and that was Kim, a very beautiful and very popular sophomore who had a reputation for being extremely friendly with all of the guys. Kim was sitting in her seat, blatantly staring at the Goblin King (of course, Kim had no idea who Jareth was) and preening herself. Sarah felt a rush of bitterness toward the girl. How dare she presume to try to gain Jareth's attention! Then, as swiftly as the jealous rage came over her, Sarah realized what she was thinking and gasped softly, forcing herself to focus on the textbook.

"Is everything alright, Miss Williams?"

Damn! She had thought no one had heard. But then...this was Jareth. She nodded without lifting her head to look at him. What was he doing to her? It had to be some kind of trick of his - but then, she didn't really believe it was him, did she? Her thoughts were racing, and she didn't know what to think. Before she knew it, the class was ending, as signaled by the bell, and she jumped at the loud sound. She had to confront him, she knew she did, but struggled with the thought of it. She took her time getting her things together, noticing with some agitation that Kim was doing the same thing. Sarah watched as Kim sauntered down to Jareth, who was standing behind the desk now.

"Excuse me, Mr. Kingston," Kim was toying with her blonde curls and batting her eyelashes.

Sarah almost laughed at the choice of name he'd given. How blatant could he be? Jareth looked at Kim, almost as though he wasn't seeing her. "Yes?" He had the same tone that he used whenever he used to speak to Hoggle. It didn't seem to phase Kim at all. She leaned against the desk, smiling at him persuasively.

"I don't think I quite understood the reading from today, and, well," she shifted herself so that he could get a good view of her if he was so inclined, "I thought maybe you'd be able to give me some _private_ tutoring."

Jareth seemed to consider the offer, just for a moment, and somehow, Sarah knew it was his way of trying to make her jealous. In fact, she wondered why he wasn't trying harder.

"Miss...James was it?" Kim nodded, beaming at him, "Perhaps if you had spent more time actually reading instead of lusting after a certain substitute professor whom you have no business being interested in, you might have a better understanding of the text."

Kim looked so stunned, Sarah had to choke back the laughter that threatened to burst from her. When Kim's angry and embarrassed glare found her, Sarah simply shrugged with an impish smile, and Kim stormed out of the lecture hall. Sarah watched her leave, and her brain suddenly reminded her that she was now alone with the Goblin King. She glanced back to the professor's desk, but he wasn't there.

"And you, Sarah," she spun around to find him sitting on the desk behind her, his expression now completely attentive and cunning, like a predator stalking its prey. He tsk-tsked her before smiling seductively, "Such thoughts are not fit for a young lady such as you."

If Sarah hadn't been so flustered by his forwardness, she might have raised a hand to strike him. As it was, she forced herself to not look away from him. "What are you doing here?" She realized that she probably should have rebuffed his observation with a denial, but the question had found its way first.

Jareth noted with some pleasure that she didn't immediately deny his accusal. They would both have known that she was lying. "I thought that was obvious." he said, gesturing around. "Substitute teaching."

Her temper was beginning to flare. "Try again." She had defeated him once, and whatever it was this time, she would do it again, and this time without the thirteen hour ordeal. She knew exactly what would make him go away.

"I thought I'd see what life was like in this world for a while." he was toying with her. She could see it in his mismatched eyes.

Sarah narrowed her eyes. "Last chance." She said, placing her hands on her hips.

Jareth considered his options. She could easily make him go back to the Underground with a six simple words. It had taken a long time for him to regain enough power to enter this realm, and several young children had become his newest servants in the process. He hadn't come here to have it all thrown away in a matter of moments of speaking with her privately. "I wanted to see you."

His words struck a note somewhere inside of her. Whether he knew it or not, a tinge of sadness had found its way into that phrase, and she knew he was telling the truth. She had to be careful and not let him in - if she fell under whatever spell he was trying to weave, it could be disastrous. "I thought that's partly what you used those crystals for." she replied before she even knew she had thought the words. She shouldn't be holding any kind of a conversation with him.

He sighed, looking very weary, "Once you renounced me, I was unable see you through the crystals, except for when you would dream of the Underground. When your heart and mind were both open to my world." He said this plainly, as if it were something she should already know. "It has been a long time since that has happened."

So, he had entered her dream the night before. "You spied on my dreams!" her voice was barely a whisper, but could have been a scream for the silence around them. He offered no explanation, no confirmation. She turned away and started down to the door. "Go back to the Underground, Jareth. Leave me alone."

He was behind her, grabbing her arm just as she entered the hallway. "Sarah! Wait!" She jerked her arm out of his grasp, the action causing her to stumble against the wall. As though he had expected it, he followed and caught her before she hurt herself, effectively trapping her between the wall and himself, a self-satisfied grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. His mouth... His presence was everywhere, calling to her, intoxicating her.

Sarah blinked and looked away. "Let me go." she murmured.

"What if I refuse?" he asked.

"I'll send you back myself." she declared.

He chuckled, setting a fire somewhere within her. "I don't think you will."

Sarah jerked her eyes back to his, defiant. For a moment, he thought he'd hear the words he dreaded from her. Instead, "I said, let me go."

To her astonishment, he took a step away. She slid out from the opening it created, feeling able to breathe again. Was it out of fear that she would in fact send him home? Or was he scheming to find another way to bewitch her? She didn't know, and she didn't care to find out. Without a word, she backed away from him a few more steps, watching him to be sure he wouldn't follow her, then she turned and ran out of the building. Jareth watched her go, then turned and left via another set of doors. Soon. It had already begun.

Yes, he'd done the one thing he'd told himself he wouldn't do when he finally saw her. He looked into her thoughts. What he saw there was mostly what he'd expected. He knew she'd be apprehensive, confused, even angry. He also knew that it was unlikely that she had pushed away all the things she'd felt as that sixteen year old girl and did not understand at the time. He'd made sure of that when she had been dancing with him at the masquerade. There would always be a part of her that would wonder what could've been. What had surprised him was that the seed he'd planted in her mind had begun to develop into something more. Sometime during the past three years, she had allowed herself to acknowledge the attraction she had felt, and though she had since denied it to herself, it was there. This might be easier than he supposed.

Night had fallen. Sarah sat on her bed in the dorm room, knees pulled to her chest. What was going on? Had she really had a conversation with Jareth, or was it her imagination taking over again? She remembered the way she'd felt in his arms, swirling through the crowded ballroom. His touch had been strong and supportive, yet so very light - as though he thought she might break if he held her too tightly. The way he had smiled at her... Sarah sighed, feeling a sensation of warmth just thinking about it. He really had tried to make her want to stay there with him, and it almost worked. Almost.

...at the cost of Toby being transformed into a goblin, her inner voice reminded her. She remembered the helplessness, the frustration, the anger he'd made her feel. How frightened she had been that she would fail and lose her little brother forever. How could one person make her feel all of those things and more?

"I hope he listened to me." she whispered to herself. She was ashamed by her own doubts about what she'd told him about sending him back. Would she really have done it? Could she have done it? Why did it seem so much harder now than it was then, now that she knew the words, had repeated them in her mind so many times afterwards?

She stretched her legs out, looking around for something to take her mind off of all of it. A knock at the door made her jump. She looked at the clock. It was ten minutes to midnight. She hadn't realized that her roommate hadn't come back yet. She probably forgot her key again. Sarah got up with a sigh, padding across the room.

"Dani, you're lucky I was still awake." She said to the person outside as she unlocked the door, "This is the last time I..." Sarah's voice trailed off, her eyes going wide. She suddenly felt like that scared sixteen year old girl again. Before she realized she had done it, she backed away from him. As she knew he would, he stepped into the room, seeming to fill it completely. "I told you to go away." she whispered.

He smiled, all arrogance and undeniable sexiness. "You didn't say please."


End file.
